Strengthening Strategies for Existing Rammed Earth Walls Subjected to Out-of-Plane Loading

Abstract

The paper reports an experimental campaign to study the effectiveness of strengthening measures proposed for rammed earth (RE) wall in an out-of-plane direction. Two simple and feasible strengthening techniques were explored, namely, mesh-wrapped and timber-framed strengthening techniques. The test involved testing three full-scale U-shaped RE walls in an out-of-plane direction. The first specimen without any intervention served as the reference wall, while the two others were strengthened with two different strengthening methods. It was observed that both proposed strengthening techniques improved the load-carrying capacity of the wall and the maximum displacement and the energy absorption. The mesh-wrapped strengthening technique was found to be more effective than the timber-framed strengthening technique, which disrupted the visual aspects of the wall’s facade and needed proper anchoring to the foundation.

Recovering a lost seismic disaster. The destruction of El Castillejo and the discovery of the earliest historic earthquake affecting the Granada region (Spain)

“…Penetrative fractures recorded on standing walls unearthed both by previous excavations and found by our fieldwork (such as cracked wall 206 in Trench 2) correspond to in-plane or out-of-plane cracking which is entirely consistent with seismic damage. This kind of damage has previously been observed in both archaeological parallels and contemporary scenarios such as the recent 2023 Oukaïmedene Morocco Earthquake [ 3 , 42 – 45 ], but also emerges as a result of the simulated seismic loading of rammed earth structures [ 46 – 52 ]. Deformation along lift interfaces as observed in the displaced blocks of walling is a well-known behaviour of rammed earth structures affected by earthquakes [ 52 ] and can be especially distinctive in rammed earth buildings because mortar is not used to cement the lifts together.…”